


stellar reunion

by discordiansamba



Series: desert born [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26886979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discordiansamba/pseuds/discordiansamba
Summary: Sometimes the best choice you can make is to not hope.(but you do it anyways.)
Relationships: Keith & Krolia (Voltron)
Series: desert born [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1107699
Comments: 25
Kudos: 149





	stellar reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Then suddenly, there was a desert born update!
> 
> What's up everyone, back here with a new installment of this verse! This both picks up where stellar blessing left off and fleshes out Keith's early days as a paladin a touch more. I've been waiting to write this particular fic for awhile, so I'm glad that I was able to finish this! I hope you all like it!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to hit me up on my fic tumblr, [discordiansamba!](https://discordiansamba.tumblr.com/)

"Where's mom?"

"She had to go away for awhile," his father had told him at the time, "-but she'll come back someday."

He'd been too young at the time to glean anything from the subtle twitch of his dad's fingers, but now that he was older, he understood it a little better. He wasn't sure what the expression on his father's face had been. He'd asked him that question before everything had happened- before he'd gotten sick, before his appearance had changed and they'd moved out into the desert to keep him safe.

Before his father's answer had changed.

He'd probably wanted to wait and tell him about his mother when he was older, when he might understand better. Then circumstances had changed, and he'd been left with little choice. Even then, the times he actually asked about his mother were few and far between- as long as he had his father, that had been enough for him.

Then his father was gone too.

He thought about his mother a lot in the ensuing years after his father's death. Sometimes he would catch himself fantasizing about her returning to Earth and taking him back to space with her. Or maybe she'd stay on Earth with him and help him protect the blue lion. The daydreams mostly stopped once Shiro came into his life, and after he met the Holts, he never had those fantasies again.

But he did still sometimes think about his mother.

He knew she was alive. Her lifeforce was connected to the knife she'd left behind, and so long as it glowed, it meant she was still alive. She was out there somewhere in the vast universe, fighting against an evil empire.

One made up of people that looked like them.

He wondered what she was like, sometimes. He knew her name was Krolia, and that she was a rebel and a spy. He knew from the memories the blue lion had shown him that she was an amazing fighter. He knew from what his dad had told him that she'd loved him, and that there was no one else like her in the world.

But he still didn't _know_ her.

He wondered what she'd think of them if they met.

He didn't wonder often. With each passing year, he doubted more and more that she would ever return. He wasn't sure if it was because some part of him doubted her- or if he was just getting more realistic as he got older. The war that the blue lion described to him sounded _devastating_ , spanning over ten thousand years and countless galaxies. It just didn't seem like something that could be solved within a human lifespan

(If he even _had_ a human lifespan.)

Hoping just... didn't seem _practical_ after awhile.

And then, suddenly, he was in space.

Then, suddenly, there _was_ hope.

* * *

"By now, your traitorous mother is probably already dead."

For one brief second, Keith froze. Then adrenaline took over and he snarled, forcing Sendak back, just in time for Allura to trap him in a barrier. He almost went after him, too blinded by anger to realize the futility of his actions, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Shiro.

Coming back to his senses, he slowly exhaled. His bayard transformed back, the adrenaline washing out of his body in a rush. Looking up at Shiro, he met his eyes, the newly minted black paladin offering him a soft smile.

Then Sendak scoffed.

Narrowing his eyes, Keith turned to glare at the Galra commander. He was the first Galra he'd seen that wasn't his mother, but the two couldn't be further apart. There were a lot of times growing up that he'd caught himself feeling as alien as he looked, but staring down one of the very people his mother had left to fight against, he couldn't have felt more human.

"So the half-breed cares for its mommy." Sendak mocked, his lips twisting in a cruel smile. "How pathetic."

Gripping his bayard tight, Keith bared his teeth in a growl. "I'm not-!"

"Keith's not pathetic," Shiro cut him off, unflinchingly meeting Sendak's gaze, "-and you're defeated. Maybe it's best if you just accept it."

" _True_ Galra do not accept defeat." Sendak snarled. "Victory or death."

 _Maybe you should just die then_ , some part of Keith wanted to say. But he bit it back, even as held Sendak's gaze. Maybe it was the Galra part of him, that refused to back down from a challenge. Or maybe it was the human part of him, that was too stubborn to give him the satisfaction.

Maybe it was both.

In the end, Sendak succumbed to the sleeping gas Allura flooded his prison with, but not before he'd sneered at them one last time. The Alteans would transfer him to a much more secure prison, after which they would decide what to do with him. The other Galra who had raided the Castle with him, Haxus, was already dead.

He didn't break eye contact with him once.

"You okay?"

Snapping back to himself, Keith glanced up at Shiro. There was concern etched into those bruised features, and this time he _did_ look away. He knew it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but think it was. He hadn't asked Sendak to blow up the Castle's crystal, nor had he asked him to create a diversion in the Arusian village that would force them to split up. He wasn't at fault here.

Yet he still couldn't help feeling that way. If he'd just stayed in the Castle...

"Yeah," he half-lied, "-I'm fine. What about-?"

"Me?" Shiro finished, giving him a smile. "I'm a little banged up, but I'll be fine."

Keith nodded, before glancing over his shoulder towards Lance. Allura was already crouched by his side, checking his vitals. Based on the expression on her face, there was no urgency there, but it was clear he was in bad shape. After all, he'd been _right there_ when the bomb had gone off.

Apparently, he'd saved Coran.

(He'd be lying if he said he didn't have a slightly better impression of him now.)

"I'm sure Lance will be fine too." Shiro said, doing that thing where he read his mind. "We'll get him into a healing pod first thing once Hunk and Coran get back with that crystal."

Keith nodded, his gaze finally falling on Pidge. The newly minted green paladin caught his eye, and instinctively, he looked away. He felt bad about it almost immediately, chancing another glance in her direction, but she was already looking elsewhere.

Biting his lip, he stared down at his feet. Pidge would be leaving soon to find her dad and Matt. He'd tried to stop her, but he knew Pidge too well. There was nothing he could say to change her mind once she'd made it up. Even worse, he'd gotten _angry_ at her- he'd snarled at her, the same way he'd done to Sendak.

Suddenly he felt alien again.

"Keith?"

"I'm sorry," Keith said, pushing away Shiro's hand, "-I need to- I need to get some air."

Shiro didn't stop him, though he could feel everyone's eyes on him as he left the bridge. He didn't go far- just to the end of the hall. He didn't know the Castle well enough yet to wander aimlessly around it. It felt too big, the same way the Pidge's house had felt the first time he'd visited.

There was a time when it had been the farthest place from the shack he'd ever gone.

He was far, _far_ away from the shack now.

_"By now, your traitorous mother is probably already dead."_

His breath hitched in his throat, cold seeping in where adrenaline had flooded before. All of a sudden he found himself moving, his feet guiding him back to the quarters that the princess had given him that first night on the Castle. He practically slammed his hand against the access panel, scrambling over to where he'd left his mother's knife when he'd left that morning.

It still glowed.

Sinking to his knees in relief, the cold left him in a rush. Clutching his mother's knife tight, he closed his eyes, drawing in a long breath and slowly letting it out.

She wasn't dead yet. There was still a chance.

Pidge was leaving, taking another part of his small family with her. But maybe there was still a chance for him to find the rest of _his_.

* * *

In the end, Pidge didn't leave.

He wasn't sure if she'd ever understand how relieved that made him feel. It wasn't like he was planning on telling her. It'd probably just sound silly anyways.

* * *

He never let his mother's knife out of his sight after that.

And if he checked it regularly to see if it still glowed- well, who was going to stop him?

* * *

The Balmera was their first _real_ victory.

They'd fought the Galra Empire before, but it had always been defensively. The Balmera was the first time they had ever moved _offensively_ , with a set goal to free its population from imperial control. Although there had been some close calls here and there- one before they'd even _reached_ the Balmera, when Lance got the blue lion stolen- they'd managed to come out on top.

The Balmerans were _free_.

He hung back by his lion, not wanting to draw attention to himself. These people had just been freed from the Galra. They didn't need one putting a damper on their celebrations.

(Some of them watched him with a wary eye, but not as many as he would have thought. Maybe they were just too happy to care.)

He'd heard from Hunk that the Empire had controlled this place for so long that the younger generation didn't even know what freedom _was_ , much less that it was something that could be obtained. He'd seen with his own eyes the damage that the Empire had done, stripping the Balmera of all its resources until it had nothing left to give. If Allura hadn't intervened...

...well, there wouldn't have been anything- or anyone- to save.

Narrowing his eyes, Keith bit his lip. He hated knowing that this had been done by his mother's- by _his-_ people. And it wasn't just the Balmera, but countless other planets too. The Castle had recorded _thousands_ of distress calls in the ten thousand years it had sat on Arus- there was no telling how many of those came from planets that no longer existed.

His people had done that.

He wondered if his mother ever felt like this. Felt this frustration, this _anger_ that so many of her own kind could be so willing to do such terrible things. How could they be so _blind_? Couldn't they see how much the people under their rule were suffering? Or did they just not even _care_?

Hell, there hadn't even been any actual _Galra_ on the Balmera- just sentries.

Somehow, that just made it worse.

He thought about Sendak, thought about the cruel way he'd treated Shiro and Lance, how he'd almost hurt Pidge. How he'd taunted him about his mother. Someone like that wouldn't think twice about crushing these people and others like them under his heel. In fact, he almost definitely _had_. He doubted _Commander_ was a title that they just gave out for free in the Empire- it was probably one that had been earned through iron and blood.

Just not _Sendak's_ blood.

No wonder his mother had decided to rebel against this.

A cheer cut through the air, prompting him to look up. He had to bite back a startled laugh at the astonished look on Hunk's face as he was hefted up by a group of cheering Balmerans. To the side, Lance looked a little left out- he vaguely recalled him saying something about a parade right before they launched.

Well if anyone deserved to be paraded as a hero, it was Hunk. They wouldn't have been able to beat that second robeast if it hadn't been for the yellow lion's shoulder canon. He was the whole reason they'd come here in the first place- he'd been so furious, so _angered_ by what he'd seen when they'd come here to get that crystal that he couldn't possibly ignore it.

And here he thought he was just a chicken.

He watched with an amused smile as the Balmerans paraded Hunk for a few feet before they mercifully let him back down. Hunk looked as if he was _this_ close to kissing the ground, but only stopped after remembering the ground was apparently sentient. Across the way, he caught Pidge's eye, and the gleam in it told him that this had been _her_ idea. Shiro just stood on the sidelines, watching the whole thing unfold with a bemused expression on his face, making no efforts to stop it.

Only Coran and the princess were absent. Healing the Balmera had taken a lot out of her, so Coran had taken her back to the Castle to rest. He still couldn't believe she'd actually pulled it off.

(Red had rumbled in his ear, full of confidence that she could.)

Tearing his gaze away from the little mini-parade, he cast it out across the Balmera. Where before it had been dusty and lifeless, now there were glittering crystals starting to grow out of its surface. It was going back to the way it was meant to be, before the Empire- before his people- had interfered.

He hoped it stayed that way.

He hoped they could free _more_ places like this.

He wondered if his mother had ever seen a sight like this before. If this too, was part of the reason that she had decided to rebel.

If they met- _when_ they met- he'd be sure to ask.

* * *

"I'm sorry."

Allura didn't startle. She merely looked up, wiping a stray tear from her eyes. She'd probably heard him coming. He hadn't exactly tried to be _quiet_ about it. It was late enough at night that the last thing he wanted to do was surprise anyone.

"Don't be," she said, "-it's hardly your fault."

Keith frowned, rapidly realizing that he had no idea what to say. He'd only come in this direction because he'd heard someone crying, and well... after today, it wasn't hard to guess who that probably was. They'd all been put through the ringer but no one quite so much as the princess herself.

Shiro, maybe. But Shiro wasn't the type to hide in the lounge after everyone had gone to sleep. He was more the type to pretend nothing was wrong. He wasn't saying anything, but Keith wasn't stupid. _Something_ had happened with him and Sendak- something _had_ to have, considering the fact that he'd ejected his pod out into space.

(Only... Sendak had been asleep the entire time.)

Seeming to realize the cause for his silence, Allura patted the space next to her. "Why don't you sit? I could use the company."

Keith frowned, looking doubtful. "Are you sure?"

He knew that they had been getting along better lately, but they hadn't exactly had the smoothest of introductions. It kind of felt like he'd be the _last_ person she would want to see right now.

"I'm positive," Allura said, "-please."

Shifting awkwardly on his feet, Keith hesitated. Then finally he nodded, not _quite_ taking the seat right next to the princess, but close enough to apparently satisfy her.

"We had quite the day, didn't we?" Allura asked, her tone almost conversational, like she _hadn't_ just destroyed the last bit of her father she had left- but if he looked at the corners of her eyes, he could still make out the grief that haunted them. "I heard from Lance that you were nearly killed by one of the Gladiators."

" _Nearly killed_ is a bit of an exaggeration." Keith huffed. "I could have handled it."

"I'm certain you could have." Allura said. "Personally I'm just grateful you arrived in time before Lance was sucked out into space."

"Pretty sure Lance is glad too." Keith remarked.

Unexpectedly, the princess laughed. "Yes, I suppose he would be."

Chewing on his lip, Keith glanced in the princess' direction. She'd laughed, but her eyes still looked distant, as if she was thousands of miles away in a different place.

It wasn't hard to guess where. Not when her father had made her think they were going back to Altea.

(No, he thought, not her father. He'd heard the way Allura spoke of him. The man that had nearly gotten them all killed had _not_ been her father.

But it probably didn't make destroying him any less easy.)

"Are you going to be okay?" Keith asked, knowing it was a stupid question the moment it left his lips. Of course she wasn't.

But Allura didn't even bat an eye, instead merely shaking her head. "I cannot say for sure. I hope to get there one day, but..."

"...it's not that easy, is it?"

"No," she agreed, "-it's not."

He said nothing to that. There _was_ nothing _to_ say.

In the end, it was Allura who broke the silence that washed over them. Uncurling herself from the couch, she rose to her feet, stretching until the joints in her shoulders popped. She must have been there for awhile, he thought.

"You know," she said, "-there _is_ something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Keith blinked, cocking his head as he looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"It's been on my mind ever since the Balmera, really, but today's events have made me more certain of it than ever." Allura said. "We simply know far too little about the state of the Galra Empire. If we are to have any hope of winning this war, then we need more information."

Keith nodded. He agreed, but he wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"I think," Allura began, leveling her gaze with his, "-that we should find your mother."

* * *

_Finding his mother_ actually meant finding the rebels in general, but he'd expected that much. Finding his mother was way too specific a task. But finding the rebels she worked with- maybe _that_ they could pull off.

You know. If he had any idea what they were _called_.

"And your father never mentioned the name of their organization at all?" Allura inquired.

"No, nothing." Keith said. "I'm not sure he even _knew_."

Allura frowned, visibly annoyed. "Well that's not much of a help."

Keith's eye twitched, biting back a sharp remark. She was probably just frustrated, stuck in that place where she knew how she wanted to move forward, but couldn't. They'd changed locations, moving to the archive room where they had spent the past few hours scouring anything related to the early stages of the war to see if there might be a clue about any Galra rebels.

They hadn't found any, which meant the only thing they had to go on was his knowledge. Which was... _spotty_ , to say the least.

So yeah, he could understand why she might be a touch frustrated. She was right- they just didn't know enough about the Galra Empire. They didn't even know what it was that they did to their crystals that caused them to react with the Castle's systems like they had. If they'd known, maybe they could have prevented everything that happened today.

(They'd tried asking the Balmerans, but they didn't know either. Clearly whatever was done to them was done _after_ they were harvested and removed.)

Biting his lip, Keith racked his brain for anything his dad might have told him that could lead them to the Galra rebels. Pulling out his mother's knife, he idly traced the glowing sigil. He wondered where she was, what she was doing right now. Had she heard about Voltron yet?

Did she... did she know he was one of the paladins?

(Did she ever think about him at all?)

"Would it be alright if I saw your knife for just a tick?"

Blinking, Keith glanced up at Allura, the princess' gaze fixed on his knife. He bit back a reflexive _no_ , not sure if he was close enough to the princess to trust her with something so important, even if it was _for just a tick_.

But he bit that instinct back, instead narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her, "-why?"

"You said something about your mother's lifeforce being connected to it, didn't you?" Allura asked. "I just thought- oh nevermind. I doubt it would work anyways."

Keith frowned, now more curious than he was suspicious. "What wouldn't work?"

"I thought that perhaps I could sense her if I held it." Allura said. "But I don't think even my father could have pulled something like that off, not unless she was standing right in front of him."

Keith frowned, considering it for a moment. She was right- it really did sound impossible.

But so did everything else about his life.

"Okay," he said, "-you can try."

Allura blinked, opening her mouth to repeat her assertion that it was impossible- before shutting it. Instead she nodded, holding out her hands, an almost solemn expression on her face as he passed his mother's knife to her.

It made him feel a little better about parting with it.

She took it from him, tracing the sigil much like he had earlier. Closing her eyes, she slowly exhaled, concentrating. He waited, watching her with anticipation. Maybe-

"I'm sorry," she opened her eyes after a moment, "-I'm afraid I can't sense anything."

"Oh," Keith frowned, hastily masking his disappointment, "-it's okay."

He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

Allura passed the knife back to him without another word. He took it, briefly tracing the sigil once more, before he put it back in its sheath.

"Perhaps we could-"

He didn't get to hear the end of Allura's sentence, the door to the archives sliding open and cutting her off. Turning his head, he blinked in surprise upon realizing it was Shiro- a slightly confused but mostly _annoyed_ Shiro.

"Shiro?" He asked. "What are you doing up?"

"Doing up?" Shiro asked. "Keith, do you even know what time it is?"

"Uh-"

"Quiznak," Allura muttered, doing a quick check of the time, "-it appears as if we've been up all night."

Keith winced, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Oops?"

" _Oops_ is right." Shiro said, folding his arms in front of him, before turning his gaze on the princess. "Coran was frantic because you weren't in your room, princess. He thought something happened to you again."

Now it was Allura's turn to wince. "We may have gotten a bit caught up in our research."

"So I see." Shiro arched his brows, his gaze briefly flickering between the two of them. "So what exactly _were_ you two researching?"

"We-"

"We were trying to find my mother's allies."

Allura frowned, glancing in his direction. He hadn't meant to cut her off.

"Yes," she said, "-that is precisely what we were doing. I thought it might be for the best if we found some allies who actually know about the current state of the war."

Blinking, Shiro looked visibly surprised before seemingly accepting the princess' answer. Given her initial reaction to well, _him_ , he'd been surprised too.

Maybe Hunk wasn't the only one who had been deeply affected by what he'd seen on the Balmera.

"Makes sense." Shiro said. "Any luck?"

"None, I'm afraid." Allura said, before pausing, glancing up at him with a slight frown. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Shiro asked.

"Nothing." Allura said quickly, before seeming to backtrack. "Only... when you brought up the rebels before, you sounded very certain there were more than just Keith's mother."

Narrowing his eyes, Keith looked up at Shiro with a frown. "You did?"

"I... guess I did." Shiro admitted. "But I don't..."

Shiro trailed off, his brows knitting together. He recognized that look. It was the one he got whenever he was trying to piece something together.

"Shiro...?"

"I think," Shiro cautiously began, his eyes darting in his direction as if he feared giving him false hope, "-I think I might have met one. I think they helped me escape."

* * *

"Are you _sure_ this is safe?"

"Oh, not to worry!" Coran chirped. "So long as young Keith doesn't go racing off deep into your mind, it should be perfectly safe!"

He could tell that Shiro wasn't completely reassured by that answer, and honestly, he couldn't blame him. He hadn't been that fond of the mind-melding headpieces the _first_ time they'd worn them, so he wasn't exactly in a hurry to wear them again.

Even if it _was_ only just the two of them this time.

"And the event anything _does_ go wrong," Allura chimed in, "-we'll be right here to shut it down."

"Thanks," Shiro said dryly, "-that's reassuring."

Keith snorted, quickly trying to hide it once Coran and Allura glanced in his direction. Shiro caught his eye, arching a brow in amusement.

"Let's just get this over with," Keith said.

"Remember," Allura began, "-once the two of you are connected, you'll both need to concentrate on the same thing for this to work. We don't want to take any risks, not with Shiro's memories being in the state they're in."

Keith nodded gravely, all earlier mirth gone. The last thing he wanted to do was cause Shiro any harm. If the information wasn't important, he wouldn't even be trying this- or if Shiro hadn't insisted. There was a good chance that the person who had helped him escape from Zarkon's clutches was a Galra rebel, but trying to recall his escape in the conventional manner had been getting them nowhere.

Thus, the mind meld headpieces.

"Copy that, princess." Shiro said. "Good thing we're already so in sync, huh?"

"Sure, _dad_." Keith teased, briefly rolling his eyes.

"Glad you agree, _son_." Shiro teased right back, much to the Altean's bafflement.

Keith just snorted again, trying to ignore the looming ghost that was Matt's absence. He'd always been the one most engaged with the running joke.

"Alright, paladins," Coran said, "-we're ready when you are."

Keith nodded, unsheathing his mother's knife and placing it between him and Shiro. He hardly needed the visual reminder of its sigil, but Shiro might. The black paladin caught his eye, giving him a reassuring smile before he put his headpiece on.

Drawing in a deep breath, Keith did the same.

Here went nothing.

* * *

At first, there _was_ nothing.

Then Shiro's memories flowed through him in a rush, like a crashing wave overhead. It was all he could do to keep himself from drowning. This was completely different than the first time they'd used the headpieces- but they hadn't actually been _trying_ to go through each others memories then.

He was.

Holding onto the image of the sigil like a life raft, he let it pull him through the river of memories, until he emerged in a time near the present. It took him a second to recognize the dimly lit hallways as belonging to a Galra ship- it looked so different from the ones he'd seen on Sendak's ship. He abruptly realized that was because he was seeing this in Shiro's memories- and thus, through his eyes.

His _human_ eyes.

Something churned in his gut at that thought, the feeling briefly threatening to pull him out of their mental link completely. But he swallowed it, instead concentrating on what he'd come here for.

Shiro's rescuer.

It took a second, before the image blurred again. Shiro was in some kind of... well, judging by the instruments, nothing good could possibly have come from this room, but he stopped himself from prying further. Shiro deserved his privacy- and deserved to remember things at his own pace. He hated the fact that they had to disturb his forgotten memories at all, and if this was just about meeting his mother, he would have refused.

But there was more at stake here than just a family reunion.

There were three Galra in the room, but Shiro's attention was most drawn towards one. He watched as they suddenly turned around and took out the other two soldiers, before turning around and freeing Shiro. Keith felt something in his heart stir. Up until now, he only had his father's words and the visions the blue lion had shown him as proof that there really were Galra rebels, but now, seeing one in action, he felt... almost _relieved_.

There really _were_ others like him.

Like Sendak, the Galra was tall, covered in purple fur with solid yellow eyes that glowed faintly in the dim lighting. But that was where the similarities ended. Ulaz was lean, with ears that looked more like Allura's than Sendak's- even his fur was a different shade of purple- _two_ , actually.

His name was _Ulaz_.

 _"But if you survive,"_ he told Shiro, _"-go to the coordinates in your arm. The Blade of Marmora is with you."_

 _The Blade of Marmora_.

The rebels. His _mother's_ rebels.

He fully expected the memory to end there, ready to break the link. Not only had he gotten their name, but there were also coordinates in Shiro's arm that would lead to them. There was no other reason to stay.

"Wait."

He knew, of course, that Shiro wasn't speaking to him.

But he waited anyways.

"Back on Earth," Shiro had told Ulaz, "-there's a child."

Immediately, Keith cut the link, jerking back to himself. Grabbing the headpiece, he pulled it off, his heart pounding in his chest. It felt like he'd seen something he shouldn't have.

Shiro had been thinking about _him_.

He already knew that Shiro didn't resent him for what he'd gone through at the hands of the Galra Empire. He knew that it hadn't changed anything between them. But part of him... part of him wondered if the only reason he could say that was because his memories were so fuzzy. That maybe if he remembered better, things would change.

But he'd asked about him.

He'd been worried about _him_.

Swallowing, he chanced a look up towards Shiro. The black paladin was busy removing his own headpiece, but caught his eye, offering him a soft smile. For a brief second he was ten years old again and back in the shack, making a pinky promise with a man who would go on to be the closest thing he'd ever had to a big brother.

"You okay?"

Biting his lip, Keith nodded. He was _more_ than okay, actually.

"Yeah," he said, "-I think I am."

* * *

"I don't get it. There's nothing _here_."

There _had_ been coordinates in Shiro's arm. They'd lead them here- to the Thaldycon system. Where... yeah, Pidge was right, actually. There _was_ kind of nothing.

"This _is_ where the coordinates led." Shiro said. "I say we give it time."

"I concur." Allura agreed. "I do not think Shiro's rescuer would have gone through the trouble of uploading coordinates into his arm if they were meaningless."

"Couldn't he just have made a mistake?" Hunk ventured.

"Yeah, or maybe Keith saw the wrong thing." Lance said.

Frowning, Keith glared at the blue paladin. "I know what I saw."

"Keith just saw that he'd uploaded the coordinates," Pidge pointed out, "-not what was put in. Unless of course, you're criticizing _my_ data retrieval skills."

"Nope," Lance said quickly, holding up his hands, "-not saying that."

"Yeah, I thought not." Pidge said, smugly folding her arms in front of her.

He caught her gaze, fighting the urge to laugh. At least Lance had the sense to be properly afraid of an angry Pidge. The Galra Empire had _nothing_ on that.

"Well, if the coordinates weren't wrong, do you think maybe the base is hidden in all those weird crystals?" Hunk asked. "I mean, that seems like a pretty good place to hide one, right?"

"Negative, Number Two." Coran said. "Those are xanthorium crystals. The slightest touch and _ka-boom_! We'd be blown straight to Wozblay!"

"Yeah, okay, let's maybe _not_ do that then." Hunk quickly said.

"So what?" Lance asked. "We just sit around and wait for something to happen?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Keith asked.

Judging from the way Lance didn't respond, he was going to guess _no_.

"That said, I'm afraid we cannot stay here forever, no matter how important potentially forming an alliance might be." Allura said. "But at the very least, we can spare a varga or two."

Jerking his head up to look at Allura, Keith had to bite back a snappish comment. He knew she was right. There was no telling if Ulaz had even made it to the coordinates, or if something else had happened between now and Shiro's escape. Every second they spent waiting was a second they spent _not_ doing their job as defenders of the universe- and no matter how badly he wanted to see his mother, that mattered more.

(His mother probably wasn't even _here_.)

"Allura's right." Shiro said, before sparing him a glance. "Sorry, Keith."

Keith just shook his head. "It's fine."

It wasn't, not entirely. Not when he was _this_ close. But he got it. He did.

(And yet...)

Pidge shot him a sympathetic look from across the room. He caught it, managing a faint smile in response. Maybe if they _did_ find the Blade, they could get information that would lead them to Sam and Matt too. Meeting his mother after so long would make him happy, but nothing would make him happier than bringing his _entire_ family together.

(He wondered if his mom would be upset that he had another mom back on Earth.)

Leaning back in his chair, he prepared to wait.

He didn't have to wait long.

"Intruder alert!" Coran exclaimed.

"What?" Lance asked. "How could someone just sneak aboard the Castle?"

On his feet in an instant, Keith watched with rapt attention as Allura brought up footage from the Castle's cameras. His heart pounding in his chest, he scanned each and every one of them, searching for a sign of the intruder.

His eyes fell on them, and his heart stopped.

"There!" He heard Allura say. "They're on-"

He listened long enough to get their location, and then he was gone.

No one stopped him.

He didn't hear his own footsteps as he raced through the Castle halls. His heart had started to beat again, and its sound was all that he could hear.

He'd know that face anywhere.

He didn't even need the memories the blue lion had shown him to recognize it, not when he could recognize _himself_ in it. Unbidden, he remembered the aftermath of the paint war he'd had with Matt and Pidge, and how upset he'd been that some of the paint that had gotten on him had obscured his markings. How worried he'd been that his mother wouldn't recognize him without them.

Rounding that final corner, he realized he'd had nothing to worry about.

Their eyes met, near mirrors of the other. She stood out against the whites and blues of the Castle's hallways, a purple figure clad in black. For a moment, neither of them moved, time itself feeling as if it had frozen.

Then, with a single word, time began to move.

"...mom?"

" _Keith_."

"You're here," his words tumbled out without his consent, "-you're- it's really _you_."

Then the next thing he knew, his mother was right there in front of him. She was taller than him, though not as tall as his dad had been- or maybe he was just remembering wrong. When she touched his face, it was gentle but grounding, and he realized that this was really happening.

This was _real_.

"I should say the same of you," his mother said, her voice everything and nothing like he'd imagined it at the same time, "-I never thought I'd be able to see you again."

Neither did he.

"Well," he began, somehow managing to crack a smile, "-I'm here. Probably not like you remember me, but-"

He cut himself off, his tongue thick in his throat. The last time his mother had seen him, he'd been a baby- a _human_ one. Yet there was no flicker of doubt in her eyes, just a trace of what only could be guilt, possibly even regret- and then her arms were around him, pulling him into an embrace.

He didn't resist.

"Keith, I'm," she began, her voice quiet as a whisper, "-I'm sorry. Your father, I heard..."

He swallowed, unbidden memories of his father's last moments floating into his head. But his mother's arms kept him grounded, and before long, he returned her embrace, feeling the warmth of her body beneath her cold armor.

"Don't be," he said, "-it wasn't your fault."

She only shook her head. "I should have been there. I never should have left."

Keith swallowed. He hadn't even realized it, but he'd been waiting a long time to hear those words. His father had always told him that his mother hadn't wanted to leave, but to finally hear it from her, in person...

...it felt like he could believe it now.

"Dad told me you didn't have a choice," he said.

"I always had a choice," his mother said, "-I just chose the wrong one."

Reluctantly pulling away from her embrace, he looked up, meeting her eyes. They really were just like his, violet pupils set in yellow sclera.

"You helped keep the blue lion safe," Keith said, "-and now we're here."

 _ **I'm**_ _here_ , he didn't need to say.

She touched his face again, her fingers brushing against where his ears met his cheeks. He went still at her touch, before leaning into it, all his tension washing away.

"Yes," she agreed, her voice soft, "-you are."

Closing his eyes, he let himself lean more into her touch. There was something instinctively relaxing about it, as if-

"So," Shiro's voice snapped him abruptly back to reality, "-any chance you plan on introducing us?"

Cheeks flushing a deep violet, he jerked away from his mother. His flush only deepened as he glanced behind him, realizing that Shiro was far from alone- and that in fact, _everyone_ had gathered to watch. And judging from the impish grin on Pidge's face, they'd seen way more than he'd wanted them to.

"I-"

"I am Krolia," his mother stepped forward, impossibly composed in a way he'd only come to associate with the princess, "-a member of the Blade of Marmora- and Keith's mother."

He definitely didn't _mean_ to smile like a dope at her introduction, but he did.

"Krolia," Shiro stepped forward to meet her, holding out his right hand, "-well met. My name is Takashi Shirogane."

His mother's gaze flickered towards his arm, but she didn't hesitate to take it. "The Champion. Ulaz has spoken of you."

"I've been called that," Shiro said, "-but these days I'm hoping to become better known as Voltron's black paladin. Plus I looked after this furball for awhile."

"That was _one_ time!" Keith protested, his cheeks heating up even more.

"In that case, I owe you my thanks, black paladin." Krolia said- and he swore for just a second, her lips twitched vaguely upwards. "Ulaz told me that you were there for my son when I could not be."

"Your son saved my life." Shiro said. "Looking after him was the least I could do."

"Don't forget about me!" Pidge chimed in, making her presence known as she all but thrust her hand at Krolia. "Name's Katie Holt, but these days I just kind of go by Pidge. Not to brag, but I'm _kind of_ Keith's best friend."

"Are you?" Keith asked. "I thought that was Matt."

"Wow, Keith," she said, "-that's cold."

Krolia's lips twitched again as she took Pidge's hand. "Well met, Pidge."

Pidge grinned, shaking Krolia's hand with a vigor that had to have surprised his mother. As soon as she let go, the green paladin nudged his arm, a toothy grin on her face. If there was a shadow to her eyes, she didn't let it bleed into her actions.

The mood shifted slightly as Allura stepped forward, the picture of diplomacy. There was a shadow behind her eyes too, but something told him that it came from a different place than Pidge's.

She didn't act on it either.

"I am Princess Allura of the planet Altea," she introduced herself, "-and these are the paladins of Voltron. We come seeking an alliance with the Blade of Marmora."

"That may be something of a challenge." Krolia said, her demeanor shifting to match the altered mood, all business. "Ulaz acted against orders. Our leader may not be so keen at having our existence known to outsiders."

Allura frowned, visibly displeased. "Then have we come all this way for nothing?"

"No," Krolia said firmly, "-not for nothing. Our leader can be stubborn, but he is hardly unreasonable. He may come around. In the meantime, if it is information you seek, Ulaz and I can share with you what we know."

"Ulaz?" Shiro asked. "He's here?"

Krolia nodded. "He waits in our base. You are welcome, of course."

"Wait," Pidge squinted, "- _what_ base?"

Krolia _smiled_.

* * *

(Oh, he realized later, he got that smile from her.)

* * *

"Okay, no offense to Coran's grandfather, because the Castle is still amazing and all, _but_ ," Hunk said, "-this has got to be the coolest thing I've _ever_ seen."

"None taken," Coran said, "-it's not every day you get to see someone manipulate space itself. No wonder we couldn't find you."

"That's the idea." Krolia said. "The base is hidden by a gravity generator designed by a reclusive engineer by the name of Slav. It's also the kind of technology that Zarkon would do anything to get his hands on."

"Okay, I have _got_ to see how that works." Pidge said, before turning towards Shiro, her eyes pleading. "Can I go to the base? _Please_?"

"Well-"

Krolia arched a brow, catching his eye.

"Pidge is big into tech stuff." Keith automatically supplied.

Krolia hummed. "Your father liked that kind of thing too."

Swallowing, Keith nodded. It was so strange to just be able to talk to his mother like this. It almost didn't feel real.

"Keith? You get that?"

"Huh?" Keith blinked, glancing up at Shiro.

Shiro just smiled. "I was asking if you wanted to fly us in to the base. It's a little too small to dock the Castle at."

"Oh," Keith blinked, before slowly nodding, "-yeah, sure. I can do that. Is everyone coming?"

"Almost everyone." Shiro said. "Allura and I will be going to see if we can make any progress on that alliance, and Pidge and Hunk are coming so they can see the gravity generator up close. Lance and Coran will be staying here."

"Hey, _someone's_ got to be on guard duty." Lance said. "And who better than the resident sharpshooter?"

"Coran's a sharpshooter?" Keith blinked.

Weird. He hadn't pegged him as the type.

"No, not Coran!" Lance huffed. " _Me_!"

Keith frowned, arching a brow. Lance didn't exactly seem like the sharpshooting type either, but he guessed he _had_ made a pretty good shot back when they'd dealt with Sendak. Maybe this was a little more than his usual boastfulness.

(Or maybe not. It was hard to tell with Lance.)

"Hm," was all he chose to say, instead looking back at Shiro, "-it would be a pretty tight squeeze for all eight of us anyways."

Shiro just chuckled, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. "C'mon. You can lead the way."

Nodding, Keith briefly glanced towards his mother. Krolia's expression was harder to read now that their moment together had passed. He wondered if that had to do with her being a Blade- spies were probably trained to conceal their emotions.

And yet she'd been so open with _him_.

"Alright," Keith said, "-let's go."

* * *

The red lion.

Her son flew the _red lion_.

At the sight of her son in the pilot's seat, her heart all but _surged_ with pride. This was the son that she and Heath had brought into the world. _Their_ son.

If Heath were here, she knew he'd be just as proud.

But he was gone- and she was starting to suspect that he'd been gone for a long time now. As much as she regretted it, there was nothing she could do to change the past.

She'd just have to be twice as proud in his place.

* * *

The meeting had... mixed results.

Ulaz was receptive to the idea of an alliance, but the Blade's leader remained less so. Still, Ulaz had been able to provide Allura with important information about the Galra Empire, so it wasn't like they were going to walk away from all this empty-handed.

Well. Not that _he_ would have.

He kept looking over towards his mother the entire time. He knew he was probably supposed to be paying attention to the briefing- and he was! But he also couldn't stop himself. Not when his mom was so _close_. He just wanted this all to be over and done with, so that he could have a chance to talk to her. There was so much he had to say, so much he wanted to ask about. He hadn't felt this excited since, well- since he'd realized that Shiro really _was_ sticking around.

Speaking of Shiro, he caught his eye towards the end. He gave him a quick smile, before turning towards Allura and whispering something to her so quietly that even he couldn't pick up on it. She smiled, before turning towards Ulaz, saying something equally quiet underneath her breath.

Ulaz turned to look at him, and ever so briefly smiled.

"I believe," Ulaz began, turning back to the princess, "-that we have discussed all that we can, given our leader's current unwillingness to form a proper alliance."

"Unfortunately, I believe you are correct." Allura said. "Without an alliance, there is nothing more for us to gain here."

Keith felt his heart drop, instinctively looking towards his mother. They couldn't possibly leave _now_ , not when they'd just- when _he'd_ just finally met her! Clenching his fists, he glared down at the floor, having to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming about the unfairness of it all.

But he couldn't do that. He _wouldn't_ do that. Not after he'd gotten so angry at Pidge for wanting to put her family above the universe. He knew Allura was right. They couldn't just hang around here for everyone, waiting for the Blade's leader to change their mind. Not when there were people out there suffering.

At least he'd know where his mom was now.

"Actually," Shiro began, "-I think there _is_ one more thing you can still do for us. Allura?"

"We _could_ use a liaison." Allura said. "Someone through which we could contact the Blade of Marmora, perhaps in the event that your leader should change their mind."

Snapping his head up, Keith looked at the pair of them. They weren't-?

"I believe you might be right." Ulaz agreed. "Krolia? You have experience with humans. Perhaps _you_ should go."

Catching his eye, his mother smiled. Without thinking, he smiled back, hope surging in his chest in a way it hadn't since... well, _ever_.

"It would be my honor."

* * *

Everything after that happened in a bit of a blur.

He remembered flying the red lion back to the Castle, but not much else afterwards. There was some kind of discussion between Allura, Coran, and Krolia, and he was dimly aware that Pidge had disappeared somewhere almost as soon as they got back. Some part of him knew he should probably be worried about that, but all he could focus on was his mother.

Then suddenly, it was just the two of them.

And just as suddenly, everything he'd planned on saying to her fled.

"I-" Keith began, shifting awkwardly on his feet. Allura had given him the task of guiding his mother to what would be her new quarters, with a not so subtle wink and a recommendation that he take his time. He only sort of remembered walking Krolia here, but the rest was kind of a blank.

"You've gotten so big."

Keith blinked, before cracking a faint smile. "Not as tall as dad, though. Or you."

"There's time." Krolia remarked, taking a seat on the bed. "You are still young. Some Galra do not reach their full heights until well into their fiftieth year."

"Yeah," he said, "-guess so."

Looking up at him, Krolia smiled. "Will you sit with me?"

Chewing on his lip, Keith slowly nodded. Making his way over towards the bed, he felt as if he was on autopilot, awkwardly taking a seat next to his mother.

This had been so much easier earlier.

"I always thought that when I saw you again, I'd know just what to say," his mother began, "-but now that you're here, none of it feels like its enough."

Keith blinked, struck by the realization that they had been feeling the same way. He'd had so much he wanted to say to her, but somehow none of it felt like it was _enough_.

"Yeah, I think," he said, looking up at her, "-I think I know what you mean."

Krolia smiled, reaching out to touch his cheek. He let her, closing his eyes as she began to lightly run her claws over the same spot she had before. He almost melted into it, all his held tension washing out at once.

"Perhaps," she said, "-we should start at the beginning. Did your father ever tell you how we met?"

"He said you crashed." Keith recalled. "He showed me the ships."

Krolia hummed, continuing to rhythmically scratch the back of his head. He didn't even fight the urge to purr. "He was a brave man. I loved him dearly. Leaving him- and you- was one of the hardest choices I've ever had to make."

Keith cracked an eye open, studying his mother. "You said you thought it was the wrong one."

"It was," she said, drawing her hand away, "-if I had known what was going to happen to your father, I would have stayed."

"You did it to protect us," Keith said, "-to protect Earth."

"And I ended up leaving you alone." Krolia said. "I never should have left."

Keith swallowed, his gaze dropping away from her face. He wanted to say something back to that, to reassure her that he understood why she'd left- but part of him couldn't help but think about how much _easier_ things would have been if she hadn't. Maybe he wouldn't have spent so long alone, with only the blue lion as company.

Maybe his dad would have never died in the first place.

Hell, for all he knew, maybe he might still look human now.

And yet... he couldn't find it in him to be bitter. His mother _had_ left to protect them, and if she'd stayed... who knew if he would have ever met Shiro? The Holts?

He couldn't say. He couldn't even imagine how different his life would have been if his mother had stayed. For all he knew, Earth might a Galra colony right now if she had, and the blue lion would be in the hands of the Empire. He might never have become Red's paladin.

That was worse than a few years worth of loneliness.

"I wasn't alone," he said instead, "-there was always the blue lion. And then- then there was Shiro."

"He said you saved his life." Krolia remarked. "What's the story there?"

Keith's lips twitched a bit at the reminder. Rescuing Shiro that day had been beyond impulsive on his part, but looking back, he was glad he'd made that choice. It had changed his life in ways that he never could have even imagined.

"Well," he began, "-you see it all started when he slipped and hit his head on a rock-"

* * *

The hour was late, but Krolia found she couldn't sleep.

Her son, thankfully, was not having that problem. He'd dozed off mid-story, just as he was telling her about his trip to the lake house that belonged to the green paladin's family. It pained her to hear just how long he had spent alone in the desert, but at the same time it warmed her heart to hear just how close he had gotten to these people. From the sound of it they had become something of a second family to him.

If she ever returned to Earth, she would have to thank this _Colleen Holt_ personally.

(Right after she apologized for what the Galra Empire had done to her husband and son. It pained her, knowing that people who had helped Keith so much were prisoners of the very thing she had left to protect him from.

It also _infuriated_ her.)

Quietly stroking her son's hair, she smiled a little as he shifted in his sleep, but did not wake. He looked so peaceful that she couldn't bring herself to do so, even if she was positive he'd be embarrassed by this come morning.

(Heath was right. They really did grow up fast.)

He also, she thought, looked so much like her.

He'd been sick, he'd said. That was why his appearance had changed so much.

She really did wish she'd never left.

But she was here _now_.

She was here, and not even Zarkon himself would be able to tear her away from her son again. If he tried, it wouldn't be as a Blade she'd be fighting him as.

It would be as a mother.


End file.
